Emergency Services Show

10th August 2016

Lessons learned from such major UK incidents as the Shoreham air tragedy, Bosley Mill fire and 2015 floods in Yorkshire will be shared by emergency services and partner agencies at this year’s Emergency Services Show. Curated and inspired by the Joint Emergency Services Interoperability Programme (JESIP) and the National Operational Guidance Programme, free seminars will run in the new Learning Zone in Hall 5 at the NEC from September 21 to 22. It will include case studies, panel discussions and sessions on new technology.

West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service will be sharing what they have learned from Shoreham in 2015 when 11 people died. Assistant Chief Fire Officer Neil Stocker will be facilitating an extended one-hour session with colleagues drawn from other local agencies involved with responding to the crash.

A full appraisal of the Bosley Mill disaster will be given from a range of operational perspectives. It will explore how an Urban Search and Rescue team deployed for 110 days and how Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service managed both the needs of the journalists and the sensitivities that existed within the small community rocked by the tragedy. Speakers include Sian Corrigan, Corporate Communication Manager, Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service, and Rob Norman, USAR Officer, CFOA National Resilience.

Flooding is a major focus, as emergency services and planning officers prepare for this year’s winter. Delegates will be given the fire command, police and local authority perspectives on how resources and community volunteers were co-ordinated during the December 2015 floods affecting much of northern England. The Environment Agency will provide an overview of its response, recovery and learning, and the National Flood Forum will look at recovery issues and how grass roots communities can be empowered for the future.

London Fire Brigade will debrief delegates on Exercise Unified Response, a large and complex, live and command post exercise, held earlier this year, based on a significant building collapse, incorporating heavy transport and mass casualties.

During the lunchtime sessions on day one, emergency services will explain how they are deploying new forms of technology including drones, body worn video and social media to influence the operational response to incidents. Speakers include representatives from Surrey Police, Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service, Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service and West Sussex County Council. Meanwhile the College of Policing, National Ambulance Resilience Unit and National Operational Guidance Programme will host a panel considering how the three blue light services learn and identify existing and new synergies.

Carl Daniels, Deputy Senior Responsible Officer, JESIP will be setting the scene for joint operational learning on the opening day with Ben Platt, Policy Manager, Civil Contingencies Secretariat. Carl said: “The failure to ensure that lessons identified became lessons learnt, and led to positive change in the way services worked together at incidents, was a key driver for JESIP. We launched our Joint Organisational Learning arrangements to address this exact issue and our goal is to ensure that JOL becomes the national standard for multi-agency organisational learning. It is critical that we learn together so that this can then be used to inform doctrine, training and exercising, which ultimately impacts on the way we work together. This conference programme is a great example of how critical sharing honest feedback is, and how important it is to continue to develop a culture of openness when working together.”

And David Brown, Event Director, The Emergency Services Show, said: “The Learning Zone is not meant to be a showcase of everything that went well. It’s a forum for some honest dialogue about the reality of responding – whether that’s as a first responder, or for those considering the long term, strategic view to influence future planning and training. With the drive for more collaboration coming out of the Policing and Crime Bill, the need to learn from others is more relevant than ever.”

All sessions in The Learning Zone will be available on a first-come first-served basis. The NEC is next to Birmingham International station and Birmingham Airport as well as being accessible by motorway. Visitor entry, seminar theatres and parking at the Emergency Services Show are all free. To register for free entry visit www.emergencyuk.com.